


Had To Try

by autumnyte



Series: Boss Shay Solomon [1]
Category: Saints Row
Genre: Canon LGBTQ Character, Nonbinary Character, One-Sided Attraction, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-28
Updated: 2014-05-28
Packaged: 2018-01-26 20:34:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,949
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1701644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/autumnyte/pseuds/autumnyte
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Pierce has a crush on the Boss. The Boss wishes they could reciprocate. Spoilers for Saints Row The Third. (<a href="http://pierceaholic.tumblr.com/tagged/boss-shay-solomon">Boss Shay Solomon.</a>)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Had To Try

Shay had a finely-honed sense of intuition about many things in life, but romance wasn't one of them. Because of that, it took a while to notice Pierce was harboring a crush. The realization dawned gradually, over the course of about a month.

The first inkling came after another thwarted chess match at the penthouse crib between Oleg and Pierce--this one cut short by an overenthusiastic dancer flying off her pole and upending the chess board.

As Pierce dropped to his knees, cursing and frantically attempting to gather up the pieces, Oleg pulled Shay aside.

"Care to join me out on the balcony? I wish to discuss a… delicate matter," Oleg said.

"Sure," Shay whispered. "But tell the truth, did you pay the dancer to do that?" They glanced back at Pierce, who was still on his knees, staring at the floor. He kept shaking his head and muttering, "Twenty grand, man. And I _almost_ had check mate."

"Of course not." Oleg held open the door leading out to the pool deck. "I am gentleman of honor."

"Uh-huh." Shay raised an eyebrow, but didn't press the issue further.

Oleg closed the door behind them and spoke softly. "It is not my place, nor my wish, to interfere with your personal business…"

"Already, I'm not loving where this is going." Shay sighed and smoothed out the sleeves of their white cashmere sweater before folding both arms across their chest.

"But Pierce has proven himself a true comrade over the past months, and I feel I owe him this favor. I'm sure you must be aware of his interest in you. I suspect he has yet to express his intentions outright, but it should be obvious to a person of your observational skills."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Shay glanced back through the glass at Pierce, who was still picking up chess pieces. "He's my second. Far as I can tell, his only interest is in having my back, which he does. Did he tell you to talk to me?"

"No. I speak of my own accord. I have been noticing the way he stares at you. How his expression changes when you enter and leave the room. How he leaps into your path whenever bullets start flying. And speed with which he reaches your side whenever you call."

Shay shrugged. "So what? He's loyal. That makes him the perfect right-hand man."

"Undoubtedly. But there is more to it than that. Earlier, at the start of our match, he made a foolish error with a pawn because he was busy watching you leave the room. Such a mistake is highly uncharacteristic."

"I'm telling you, Oleg. You're seeing something that's just not there."

"Very well. Then, should the subject come up between us, I am free to tell him he's barking up the wrong tree?"

Shay uncrossed their arms and leaned forward, glaring up at the giant of a man. "What do you mean 'barking up the wrong tree'? The fuck do you know about my 'tree'?"

Oleg held up his hands defensively. "I meant simply that you do not appear to return his interest, romantically. I'm hoping to spare you both the discomfort of such an exchange."

"Oh, 'cause this right here-" Shay gestured between them. "-isn't awkward in the least."

"You have fair point. Perhaps I should have said nothing. It is rare that I interfere in such matters, and with good reason." Oleg peered through the glass, watching as Pierce packed up the chess set. "I will remain uninvolved, as you like."

"Good," Shay said, certain that Oleg was misreading the situation. Though that certainty began to waver a just a few moments later, when Pierce stood up and glanced out the window, smiling broadly and waving.

Following that incident, Shay began to examine every interaction with Pierce more closely. They'd never noticed before how frequently he made considerate gestures, such as bringing an extra drink, or jogging a few steps ahead to hold open a door. Still, Shay convinced themself there was nothing more to it than Pierce being a thoughtful guy. He'd do the same things for Shaundi and Oleg.

As the weeks went by, a few questionable moments occurred between them: Pierce moved closer than usual to Shay while everyone was dancing at the club; Pierce played darts during Ladies' night at the Broken Shillelagh and didn't hit on a single lady; Pierce rubbed a giant, purple dildo bat against Shay's shoulder while they were at Kinzie's hideout.

Still, Shay told themself that each of those incidents could easily be attributed to friendship or mere coincidence.

It wasn't until the day Shay decided to enter Murderbrawl that they knew, for certain, Pierce was interested. The gang were gathered together at the Broken Shillelagh to discuss strategy, and Shay was more than a little apprehensive about the prospect of competing with Killbane on his turf.

"Relax," Pierce said, smiling and looking directly into Shay's eyes. "You gonna look hot in a Speedo."

And at that moment, Shay knew. Oleg had been right after all.

Shay spent the whole drive home churning over the possibilities in their mind. Pierce was a great guy: brilliant, funny, loyal, stylish. What wasn't to like? Even if his Ne-Yo still needed a little work. He was the type of person Shay's parents would adore.

There was just one tiny snag: Shay wasn't attracted to Pierce like that. Not even a little. In their entire life, they'd only ever experienced romantic inclinations toward one person: Johnny Gat. But Johnny was gone. And they'd never really tried otherwise. Never thought much about it much before, because no one close to them had ever been interested, until now.

On balance, when Shay evaluated the equation rationally, the lack of attraction seemed like a relatively minor issue to overcome. Wouldn't it be foolish to let something trivial ruin what could be a good thing? Especially if the attraction just hadn't kicked in yet. Maybe something would click with Pierce if they tried it.

Determined to give it a shot, Shay texted Pierce immediately after arriving home. While waiting, they reapplied their purple lip gloss and mascara, changed their clothes three times-settling finally on a casual look, lavender hoodie and white jeans-and stared at the picture of Johnny on their dresser.

Pierce showed up about 20 minutes later, bearing a bottle of Shay's favorite Madiran.

"Nice! Thanks." Shay accepted the bottle and started to head toward the kitchen. "Any special occasion?"

Pierce followed closely behind. "Nah. You seemed… stressed about the whole Killbane thing. Figured maybe you could stand to unwind." He smiled and pointed to the bottle. "And apparently that's full of antioxidants and shit, so I figured it'd be a safe bet."

Shay chuckled and rummaged in the counter drawer for a corkscrew, then reached into the cupboard for a wine decanter. They opened the bottle and began pouring it out. "This should breathe for at least an hour or two before we indulge."

"Now see, that's what I appreciate about Saints Flow. You don't need to let it breathe. Matter of fact, it's probably smarter if you don't give it a chance."

"I'll have to take your word for it." Shay smiled and eyed Pierce up and down. He was looking sharp as always in that gray suit and purple shirt. Objectively speaking, he was a handsome dude. Shay felt a surge of affection and admiration for him-but no attraction-at least, not yet.

Pierce nodded. "I know, I know. You don't do the sugary drinks. But we got our 'Saints Flow Low', low carb version launching next quarter. Maybe you can try it then."

"Maybe…"

"Hey, you got any interest in being the spokesmodel for it?"

"Hell no."

"I had to try."

Shay gave Pierce's shoulder a quick, affectionate squeeze, then headed toward the fridge. "I'm gonna have some water while we wait on the wine. You want anything?"

"Water sounds good."

Shay grabbed a bottle and tossed another one over to Pierce. "So, tell me. How've things been going?"

"Oh you know…" Pierce paused to twist off the cap and take a long swig of water. "Morningstar and Deckers basically wiped out. You take down Killbane, and the only thing standing in our way will be STAG."

"Fucking STAG." Shay shook their head and took a sip, too. "Think we'll ever be able to just take over a city without having to battle some elite paramilitary force?"

"Based on previous experience, it doesn't seem too fucking likely."

Shay smirked. "Anyway, I wasn't asking about Saints business. I meant personally. How are things going for you?"

Pierce's eyes widened, mild surprise evident on his face. "Fine, I guess. Music career's been a little slow to take off. Need to figure out a way to make my demo tape go viral. Need to make it sticky. Maybe a gimmick. I don't know."

Shay nodded and took a step closer. Now that Pierce was here, the whole thing seemed increasingly like a bad idea. But they plowed ahead anyway. "What about dating? You seeing anyone right now?"

"Well, I um… kinda got my eye on someone." Pierce looked up, meeting Shay's gaze. "But I'm not sure if they're into me."

Shay closed the remaining distance between them, standing only a couple of inches from Pierce's face. They stared at Pierce's lips, hoping more than anything that the entire world could change with a single kiss, just like in the movies. "Maybe you should find out."

He cupped Shay's face gently in his hands and leaned in for a kiss. It was firm, but slow. Nice. But nothing like the movies. There was no spark whatsoever. Shay imagined it must be what kissing a sibling felt like. They leaned back and went suddenly rigid, knowing it would be unfair to proceed.

Pierce pulled back with a puzzled frown. "Sorry, Boss. I must've seriously misread the signals. Sorry."

"No, you didn't misread." Shay took a step back to put some distance between them. "I thought I wanted you to do that, but… shit… it's just not gonna work."

He sighed. "Still not over Johnny, are you?"

"That obvious? No, I guess not. And I'm starting to think I never will be."

"I can respect that. But… never's a long ass time. You're still young. I can't stand to think of you spending the rest of your life alone."

"I've always expected to be alone, though. There's nothing wrong with alone, far as I'm concerned." Shay placed a hand on Pierce's shoulder. "Look, you're a real catch, and I know-"

"It's fine, Boss," Pierce interrupted. "You don't need to do the letting me down easy thing. Do us both a favor and skip right over that part. Before this afternoon, I pretty much figured you weren't feeling it like that. But after today it felt different… so I had to try."

"Okay. We cool, then?" Shay asked, knowing with more clarity than ever that they never wanted to lose Pierce as a friend.

"Yeah. Yeah, we cool." Pierce waved a hand dramatically up and down his body. "I mean you gonna miss out on all this. But then, you know that."

"I know. Most definitely my loss." Shay gave him a half-smile. "Hey, you wanna watch that shitty vampire show of yours while we wait on this wine?"

"Can I take a, uh, raincheck for tomorrow?" Pierce asked, not quite able to meet Shay's eyes again. "I should get going… just remembered something I gotta take care of."

"All right. Raincheck." Shay took back Pierce's bottle of water and let him turn to leave. "Tomorrow, then."


End file.
